Students were a little surprised on the first week of school to see a "no watermelons allowed" sign. I hung it up to make them a little curious. . . and it worked. They were itching to know what it was all about.
And last week, they learned. A watermelon story is one that is a HUGE topic. Some examples might be my best friend, our camping trip, my birthday, the beach. These stories are often boring and lack details. Watermelon stories are so full of many seed stories that would make wonderful stories. For example, in the watermelon story about a camping trip, a student could instead write a seed story about setting up the tent, roasting marshmallows, or riding bikes around the campsite. Seed stories force us to zoom in with great details and are often more enjoyable to read.
Students displayed their understanding of watermelon vs. seed stories by creating a poster with examples of each. They worked in groups of 2 or 3 and had to divide up the tasks needed to be done in order to have a completed, correct poster. Here are some beginning pictures!